The tire vulcanizer is an apparatus that manufactures a vulcanized tire by vulcanizing a natural rubber tire, which is molded into a shape similar to a final product in advance to turn it into a shape of a completed tire. The vulcanization can be performed by heating and pressuring the natural rubber tire by placing it between upper and lower molds to sandwich it. To prevent the upper and lower molds from being opened due to the reaction force of the pressure, the upper and lower molds are fixed to a guide frame, a column, or the like in the tire vulcanizer.
In Patent Literature 1, a tire press (a tire vulcanizer) is disclosed. The tire vulcanizer has a movable locking part having a teeth surface, which is provided on the side surface of the upper mold, and a fixed locking part having a teeth surface matching with the teeth surface of the movable locking part, which is provided to a side frame placed on the side of the upper mold. The tightening force of the molds can be obtained with the movable and fixed locking parts by engaging them in the tire press.
Because of the above-explained configuration, there is no need to obtain the tightening force of the molds from the entire frame of the tire press. Thus, the tire press can be down-sized, reduced in weight, and simplified.